Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operation unit and electronic equipment having the same, and more specifically, an operation unit that a touch operation can be performed, and electronic equipment having the same.
Description of the Related Art
An example of the related art is disclosed in Japanese patent application laying-open No. 2014-112353 [G06F 3/02, H01H 13/02, H03M 11/04, G06F 3/023, G06F 3/041] laid-open on Jun. 19, 2014 (Literature 1). An operation device of the literature 1 includes a touch key that a touch operation can be performed, and this touch key comprises a circuit board that is mounted with a light source, a transparent portion that transmits light, an opaque light shielding portion, and a semitransparent operating panel that covers upper surfaces of the transparent portion and the light shielding portion. The transparent portion accommodates the light source, and planes that the transparent portion and the light shielding portion are adjacent with each other are adhered closely, and the circuit board and the light shielding portion cover the transparent portion so that light is emitted from only a plane that is brought into contact with the operating panel.
However, in the operation device disclosed in the literature 1, since a touch panel is formed by polycarbonate with a smoked tone, when the light source is put out in a power saving state, entire home key becomes dark and thus it is hard to see a figure indicative of a touch key such as the home key. If applying such a touch key to a key (energy saving key) for setting an image forming apparatus to a power saving state from a normal state and for returning the image forming apparatus to the normal state from the power saving state, since it is difficult to see the figure indicative of the energy saving key, there is a problem that it is difficult to operate the energy saving key when returning the image forming apparatus to the normal state from the power saving state.